Ten months later, the chore chart disappeared a long time ago and bedtime is when the boys are tired usually around 10pm after a movie or a good story or playing with Dad on the couch or for Mia when she asks to be put to bed. The kids spend their days doing just what they want to do and Mia is free to be with me as much as she likes.

Yesterday I got angry about something and I yelled at one of the kids. I shocked myself!! It sounded so horrible, not to mention unnecessary. And weird. I realized it sounded weird because it isn't something I do very often and although I felt bad for yelling, it felt good to know that it was the first time in a long time.

A typical day? Yesterday we were all up at about 8:30 and the kids watched a couple of Magic School Bus videos while they had breakfast. The boys rode their bikes for awhile then came inside and put Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on (CD). Jess played on the computer while Jacob and Mia drew arrows on small pieces of paper and played treasure hunts.

After lunch the boys played with their lego and Mia got out the peg boards. Then outside to play Lord of the Rings. They have been watching the movies over the last few nights.

Later on we made ooblik. The kitchen cupboards turned blue and it was everywhere but they loved playing with it. Mark came home from work and the next hour was spent with him and the boys playing air guitar to extremely loud music (with blue hands ).

My brother and sister came over at 8pm to watch The Two Towers. Mark went to bed with Mia to tell crazy stories and the boys sat up to watch the movie with us. They loved it!!! This morning they are outside pretending to be Aragorn and Gollum. I'm not sure who Mia is, she has a scarf tied around her waist with a cardboard dagger tucked into it.

Last Friday we had an Every Other Day party. The kids hadn't had birthday parties this year so we threw a party for the sake of it. It was fancy dress. We had dragons and unicorns, princesses and Indians. Jess was a knight, Jacob was Darth Maul (he looked awesome) and Mia was a woodland fairy with a dagger (can you tell she has older brothers?)

I love bringing joy into my kids lives. And it's contagious because they love to do the same for me.

Mary is right. Life is good.